The present invention relates generally to a collimator assembly, and, more particularly to a collimator assembly and method of manufacture.
Computed tomography has been utilized for a wide variety of imaging applications. One such category of applications is comprised of medical imaging. Although it is known that computed tomography may take on a wide variety of configurations within the medical industry, it commonly is based on the transmission of low energy rays through a body structure. These low energy rays are subsequently received and processed to formulate an image, often three-dimensional, of the body structure that can by analyzed by clinicians as a diagnostic aid.
The reception of the low energy rays, such as gamma-rays or x-rays, is often accomplished through the use of a device referred to as a scintillator detector. The scintillator detector is typically comprised of a plurality of structures working in concert to receive and process the incoming energy rays after they have passed through the body structure. A collimator is an element often found in a scintillator detector that is used to limit the direction of photons as they approach the scintillator element. The collimator is commonly used to increase the magnification of a viewed object or control resolution or field of view. Their primary purpose, in a scintillator detector, however, is to control the photons impinging on the scintillator element.
The scintillator element, in turn, is commonly a material with the ability to absorb the photons and convert their energy into visible light. This allows the low energy rays received by the scintillator detector to be converted into useful information. Scintillator elements may come in a wide variety of forms and may be adapted to receive a wide variety of incoming rays. The light produced by the scintillator element is commonly processed by way of a device such as a light sensitive photodiode which converts the light from the scintillator element into an amplified electronic signal. In this fashion, the information from the scintillator detector can be easily transferred, converted, and processed by electronic modules to facilitate viewing and manipulation by clinicians.
Current post-patient collimator assemblies provide crucial functioning for image quality by reducing the scattering of transmitted x-ray photons. Scattered photons can cause noise and reduce resolution causing image artifacts. As imaging applications require increased z-coverage, manufacturing of suitable collimator assemblies becomes more challenging. Traditional methodologies can decrease reliability and cost of manufacture as the burden on collimator performance increases. The additional press for increased resolution requirements further burdens collimator design.
It would, however, be highly desirable to have a method of producing a collimator assembly with improved manufacturing characteristics. Similarly, it would be highly desirable to have a collimator assembly and method of manufacturing that was compatible with the increasing resolution requirements of imaging systems.